# Pace Pulse

Pulse is an express bus service and a purported bus rapid transit system operated by Pace, a bus and paratransit agency in the Chicago metropolitan area. Pulse lines incorporate some aspects of a bus rapid transit line like transit signal priority, but not others, including no bus lanes. For this reason, Pulse is not true BRT, and can be accurately described as BRT creep. There are currently two Pulse lines: the Pulse Milwaukee Line and the Pulse Dempster Line.

## History

A system of express bus services operated by Pace was proposed as far back as 2014. One line was to run along Milwaukee Avenue from the Jefferson Park Transit Center, serving the Blue Line and the Union Pacific Northwest Line, to the Golf Mill Shopping Center. Despite delays, the Pulse Milwaukee Line opened on August 11, 2019.
Another express bus service was planned to run from O'Hare Airport to Evanston mostly via Dempster Street. The Dempster Line opened on August 13, 2023, at a cost of $10 million; however, buses only ran on Sundays. Services on the Dempster Line began running daily on October 29, 2023.

## Services
### Milwaukee Line

The Milwaukee Line (internally designated as route 100) entirely runs along Pace bus route 270 from the Jefferson Park Transit Center to the Golf Mill Shopping Center. The line primarily travels along Milwaukee Avenue.

#### Stations

The entire route is in Cook County, Illinois.
| Location | Station | Connections and notes |
| Chicago | Jefferson Park | Chicago "L": ■ Blue Line Metra: ■ Union Pacific Northwest CTA bus: 56, 68, 81, 81W, 85, 85A, 88, 91, 92 Pace: 225, 226, 270 |
| Chicago | Central | CTA bus: 68, 85, 85A Pace: 225, 226 |
| Chicago | Austin | |
| Chicago | Devon | CTA bus: 86 |
| Niles | Touhy | Pace: 290, 411 |
| Chicago–Niles | Harlem | Pace: 410, 411, 423 |
| Niles | Oakton | Pace: 226, 410, 411 |
| Niles | Main | Pace: 410 |
| Niles | Dempster | Pace Pulse: Dempster Line Pace: 250, 410 |
| Niles | Golf Mill | Pace: 208, 240, 241, 270, 272, 410, 411, 412 |

### Dempster Line

The Dempster Line (internally designated as 101) entirely runs along Pace bus route 250 from O'Hare Multi-Modal Facility, which directly connects to O'Hare International Airport via the Airport Transit System, to a station hub on Davis Street in Evanston. The majority of the line travels along Dempster Street.

#### Stations

The entire route is in Cook County, Illinois.
| Location | Station | Connections and notes |
| Chicago | O'Hare | ATS to O'Hare Airport Metra: ■ North Central Service (O'Hare Transfer) Pace: 250, 330 |
| Rosemont–Des Plaines | Higgins | Pace: 223W, 223E |
| Des Plaines | Lee/Touhy | Pace: 221 |
| Des Plaines | Oakton | Pace: 226 |
| Des Plaines | Des Plaines Metra | Metra: ■ Union Pacific Northwest Pace: 208, 209, 226, 230, 234 |
| Des Plaines–Park Ridge | Dee | |
| Park Ridge–Niles | Western | |
| Niles | Cumberland | |
| Niles | Milwaukee | Pace Pulse: Milwaukee Line Pace: 270, 410 |
| Niles–Morton Grove | Harlem | Pace: 410, 423 |
| Morton Grove | Waukegan | Pace: 210 |
| Morton Grove | Austin | |
| Skokie | Dempster–Skokie CTA | Chicago "L": ■ Yellow Line CTA bus: 54A, 97 Pace: 626 |
| Skokie | Crawford | Pace: 215 |
| Skokie | St. Louis | |
| Evanston | Dodge | CTA bus: 93, 206 |
| Evanston | Davis CTA/Metra | Chicago "L": ■ Purple Line (Davis) Metra: ■ Union Pacific North (Evanston Davis Street) CTA bus: 93, 201 Pace: 208, 213, 250 |

## Future

Pace is planning to add two more Pulse lines, both of which will be located in the South Side of Chicago and the south suburbs. One line will mostly run along 95th Street from the Moraine Valley Community College to the Red Line's 95th/Dan Ryan station; another will mostly run along Halsted Street from Harvey station on the Metra Electric District line to the same Red Line station that the 95th Street Line will end.